Sharpie Europeans at Brancaster Staithe Sailing Club

Photo © Chris Gibbs
 

54 sharpies from England, Holland, Germany and Portugal took part in the 40th European Championship meeting hosted by Brancaster Staithe Sailing Club at the end of July. The fleet enjoyed near perfect conditions for most of the week with a good South-Westerly wind helping to keep the sea relatively flat.

The sharpie is a classic boat, first designed and built in Germany in 1931, the class having reached its heyday when selected for the 1956 Olympic Games. Most hulls are original, though the rig has been modernised over the years whilst still retaining the one design status. The spirit of the class is epitomised by the various members of the Spink family who were sailing in five different sharpies in the event with yet another Spink turning in a splendid performance as race officer for the week.

The practice race set the format for the rest of the series with Chris & Tim Gibbs from Wells SC and Dutch hot-shot Daan Versteeg rarely more than a few boatlengths apart during the whole race. The Dutch boat got the better of the last beat to finish first, followed by Gibbs in second and Richard Cracknell from Wells SC a very close third, proving the value of experience (Cracknell was champion in 1980). Defending champion Klaus Eisenblatter from Germany was never far from the front and finished fourth.

The racing for real got underway on Monday in a strong breeze. The Gibbs brothers had built up a commanding lead by the end of the first round but suffered gear failure when the gaff jaws broke. This left Brian Lambert & Tim Adams of home club Brancaster to take over the lead, working hard to fight off three Dutch boats with Versteeg finishing in second place.

The next three races saw exceptionally close racing throughout the fleet. Versteeg sailed remarkably consistently and finished in second place in every race, though Gibbs scored 2 firsts and a third leaving him ahead by just one point. Taking discards into account Eisneblatter couldn’t catch Versteeg , Gibbs needed to finish in the top 3 and ahead of Versteeg to win. All was set for an exciting finale.

Unfortunately the last day saw a change in the weather. After a short postponement the fleet was called to the course by the race officer only for a squall to blow through and visibility to reduce to under 200m. The race was abandoned, leaving Gibbs as champion, only the 5th English champion in the past 25 years.

Overall Results:

1st GBR125, Chris & Tim Gibbs, Wells SC
2nd NED 14, D Versteeg & M Verlaan, Holland
3rd GER377 K Eisenblatter & P Hauschildt, Germany
4th NED119, T Weller & J van Veen, Holland
5th GBR134, B Lambert & T Adams, BSSC
6th NED181 F Steeneken & G Hazendonk
7th NED77 B Kraan & T van Berkel
8th NED49 J & JW vd Hondel
9th NED128 P van Raalte & J van Dorst
10th GBR9 P Spink & J Ellison